The Pens have announced their playoff dates. Half of them fit the format of this blog.
GAME 1 — April 20 at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 7:05 p.m.
GAME 2 — April 22 at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 7:05 p.m.
GAME 3 — April 23 at Bridgeport, 1:05 p.m.
GAME 4 — April 25 at Bridgeport, 7:35 p.m.
x-GAME 5 — April 26 at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 7:05 p.m.
x-GAME 6 — April 28 at Bridgeport, 7:35 p.m.
x-GAME 7 — April 29 at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 7:05 p.m.
x-if necessary
Yes, Game 3 is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Yes, if Game 2 is still going on at that time 180 miles away, there could be a slight delay. (Yes, that would be around 16 overtimes.)
The Thursday start to the series gives the Sound Tigers a day of practice Wednesday to reintroduce everyone to each other (and to introduce, first time, Messrs. Tambellini and Grebeshkov to the guys who have stayed here).
From the dumb coincidences file, the first four games of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs. Bridgeport series would follow exactly two years after the final four games of the last series between the teams. The Penguins will hope the results follow exactly as well, as they won the last three, including Game 7 on April 25, 2004.
With the ECHL playoffs starting, Bridgeport sent Joe Tallari (update: he had an assist in the Chiefs’ opener), T.J. Kemp and Doug Christiansen back to the Coast. (In part ’cause Friday’s a long way off.) Since the Isles are at the 18-man minimum, I’m not sure they can send guys down to play. But others might be available Friday, depending how the injuries go. We’ll see tomorrow how guys are feeling…